Israeli settlement

A neighbourhood in Ariel, home to the Ariel University Center of Samaria, Israel's largest public college

Neve Dekalim was evacuated by Israel in 2005

Map of Israeli settlements (magenta) in the West Bank as of 2006

An Israeli settlement (or a Jewish settlement, Hebrew: התנחלות) is a Jewish civilian community on land that was previously occupied by TransJordan (now called Jordan) and taken by Israel during the Six-Day War in response to the arab aggression and unprovoked war against Israel. There are hundreds of settlements in Judea and Samaria (called the West Bank by Jordan).

 | title       = Israel, the Conflict and Peace: Answers to frequently asked questions

| month = November | year = 2007 | publisher = Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs | quote = Are Israeli settlements legal? }}</ref> Most saliently, the United Nations has repeatedly upheld the view that Israel's construction of settlements constitutes violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention. Israel dismantled 18 settlements in the Sinai Peninsula in 1982, and all 21 in the Gaza Strip and 4 in the West bank in 2005. Settlements range in character from farming communities and frontier villages to urban suburbs and neighborhoods. The three largest settlements, Modi'in Illit, Maale Adumim and Betar Illit, have achieved city status, with over 30,000 residents each.

Israeli policies toward these settlements have ranged from active promotion to removal by force.

Resettlement of former Jewish communities

Some settlements were established on sites where Jewish communities had existed during the British Mandate of Palestine.

• Jerusalem – Jewish presence since biblical times, various surrounding communities and neighborhoods, including Kfar Shiloah, also known as Silwan - settled by Yemenite Jews in 1884, Jewish residents evacuated in 1938, a few Jewish families move into reclaimed homes in 2004.
• Gush Etzion - four communities, established between 1927 and 1947, destroyed 1948, reestablished beginning 1967.
• Hebron - Jewish presence since biblical times, forced out in the wake of the 1929 Hebron massacre, some families returned in 1931 but were evacuated by the British, a few buildings resettled in 1967.
• Kfar Darom - established in 1946, evacuated in 1948, resettled in 1970, evacuated in 2005 as part of the withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.
• Kalia and Beit HaArava - the former was built in 1934 as a kibbutz for potash mining. The latter was built in 1943 as an agricultural community. Both were abandoned in 1948, and subsequently destroyed by Jordanian forces. Resettled after the Six Day War.
• Gaza City had a Jewish community for many centuries that was evacuated following riots in 1929. After the Six Day War, Jewish communities were built elsewhere in the Gaza Strip, but not in Gaza City proper.

Demographics

See also: Population statistics for Israeli West Bank settlements

As of July 2009, 304,569 Israelis were living in 121 officially-recognised settlements in the West Bank and 192,000 Israelis were living in East Jerusalem. According to the BBC, there are 102 unauthorized outposts in the West Bank. Based on various sources, population dispersal can be estimated as follows:

Jewish population	1948	1966	1972	1983	1993	2004	2007	2009
West Bank (excluding Jerusalem)	480 (see Gush Etzion)	0	1,182	22,800	111,600	234,487	276,462	304,569
Gaza Strip	30 (see Kfar Darom)	0	700 1	900	4,800	7,826	0	0
Golan Heights	0	0	77	6,800	12,600	17,265	18,692	20,000
East Jerusalem	2,300 (see Jewish Quarter, Atarot, Neve Yaakov)	0	8,649	76,095	152,800	181,587	189,708	192,000
Total	2,810	0	10,608 1	106,595	281,800	441,165	484,862	516,569

¹ including Sinai

In addition to internal migration, in large though declining numbers, the settlements absorb annually about 1000 new immigrants from outside Israel. In the '90s, the annual settler population growth was more than three times the annual population growth in Israel. In the '00s, the large settler population growth continues. The population of settlements in the West Bank has been growing at a rate of 5-6% since 2001.

As of 2009, the total number of Israeli settlers was 516,569. This figure includes settlers in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights.

Upper left: Modiin bloc	Upper middle: Mountain ridge settlements outside barrier	Right: Jordan Valley
L above center: Latrun salient	Center: Jerusalem envelope, Ma'ale Adumim at right
Lower L of center: Etzion bloc	Lower center: Judean Desert	Lower right: Dead Sea

Administration and local government

West Bank

Settlements in the West Bank are encompassed in the Judea and Samaria District. Authority for planning and construction in the district is held by the Israel Defense Forces Civil Administration. Since Israeli civil law does not apply to the West Bank, settlers in the area are theoretically subject to martial law. In practice, however, settlers are generally judged in civil courts within Israel proper. The district consists of four cities, thirteen local councils and six regional councils.

• Cities: Ariel, Betar Illit, Maale Adumim, Modi'in Illit;
• Local councils: Alfei Menashe, Beit Aryeh-Ofarim, Beit El, Efrat, Elkana, Giv'at Ze'ev, Har Adar, Immanuel, Karnei Shomron, Kedumim, Kiryat Arba, Ma'ale Efraim, Oranit;
• Regional councils: Gush Etzion (Ezion Bloc), Har Hebron (Mount Hebron), Matte Binyamin (Staff of Benjamin, named after the ancient Israelite tribe that dwelled in the area), Megilot (Scrolls, named after the Dead Sea scrolls, which were discovered in the area), Shomron (Samaria), Biq'at HaYarden (Jordan valley).

The Yesha Council is an umbrella organization of municipal councils in the Judea and Samaria district. (Yesha is a Hebrew acronym for Judea, Samaria and Gaza, which was coined when there were Israeli settlements in the Gaza strip.) The jurisdiction of the Israeli settlements and their regional councils includes 42% percent of the West Bank, although the actual buildings of the settlements cover just 1% of the West Bank, according to a study released by B'Tselem. Much of this 42% is land that was seized from Palestinian landowners in violation of an Israeli Supreme Court decision, according to the study.

East Jerusalem

Upper L: 3 are outside barrier	Top L of center: part of Israel's unilateral disengagement	Whole right: Jordan Valley
L: W. Samaria bloc to Kedumim	Center: hills around Nablus/Shechem
Lower L: W. Samaria bloc to Ariel	Lower middle: E. Trans-Samaria Hwy outside barrier

East Jerusalem is defined in the Jerusalem Law as part of Israel's capital, Jerusalem. As such it is administered as part of the city and its district, the Jerusalem District. Pre-1967 residents of East Jerusalem and their descendants have residency status in the city but many have refused Israeli citizenship. Thus, the Israeli government maintains an administrative distinction between Israeli citizens and non-citizens in East Jerusalem, but the Jerusalem municipality does not.

Golan Heights

Map of Israeli settlements in the Golan Heights as of 1992

The Golan Heights is administered under Israeli civil law as the Golan sub-district, a part of the Northern District. As the residents of pre-1967 communities in the Golan Heights (mainly Druze) are Israeli citizens, Israel makes no legal or administrative distinction between these communities and the post-1967 settlements.

Sinai Peninsula

IDF soldiers evacuating Yamit

After the capture of the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt in the 1967 Six Day War, settlements were established along the Gulf of Aqaba and in the northeast, just below the Gaza Strip. It had plans to expand the settlement of Yamit into a city with a population of 200,000, though the actual population of Yamit did not exceeded 3,000. The Sinai Peninsula was returned to Egypt in stages beginning in 1979 as part of the Israel–Egypt Peace Treaty. As required by the treaty, Israel evacuated the civilian population, which took place in 1982. Some evacuation was done forcefully in some instances, such as the evacuation of Yamit. Israel demolished the settlements and gave the reason that for it feared that settlers might try to return to their homes after the evacuation.

Gaza Strip

Before the Israel's unilateral disengagement plan there were 21 settlements in the Gaza Strip.

Strategic significance

Palestinians argue that the policy of settlements constitutes an effort to pre-empt or even sabotage a peace treaty that includes Palestinian sovereignty, and claim that the presence of settlements harm the ability to have a viable and contiguous state.

The Israel Foreign Ministry asserts that some settlements are legitimate, as they took shape when there was no operative diplomatic arrangement, and thus they did not violate any agreement. Based on this, they assert that:

• Prior to the signing of the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty, the eruption of the First Intifada, down to the signing of the Israeli-Jordanian peace treaty in 1994, Israeli governments on the left and right argued that the settlements were of strategic and tactical importance. The location of the settlements was primarily chosen based on the threat of an attack by the bordering hostile countries of Jordan, Syria, and Egypt and possible routes of advance into Israeli population areas .These settlements were originally thought of as contributing to the peace and security of the state of Israel at a time when peace treaties had not been signed. Some supporters of the settlements still cite these reasons.
• Religious Jews assert the biblical Jewish connection to the areas in dispute, arguing that their claim to build is equal to the biblical Jewish connection to the other areas in Israel.

Legal status

Main article: International law and Israeli settlements

The consensus view of the international community is that the existence of Israeli settlements in the West Bank including East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights is in violation of international law. The Fourth Geneva Convention includes statements such as "the Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies".

At present, the predominant view of the international community, as reflected in numerous UN resolutions, regards the building and existence of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights as a violation of international law. UN Security Council Resolution 446 refers to the Fourth Geneva Convention as the applicable international legal instrument, and calls upon Israel to desist from transferring its own population into the territories or changing their demographic makeup. The reconvened Conference of the High Contracting Parties to the Geneva Conventions has declared the settlements illegal as has the primary judicial organ of the UN, the International Court of Justice.

The position of successive Israeli governments is that all authorized settlements are entirely legal and consistent with international law. In practice, Israel does not accept that the Fourth Geneva Convention applies de jure, but has stated that on humanitarian issues it will govern itself de facto by its provisions, without specifying which these are. The scholars and jurists Eugene Rostow and Stephen Schwebel dispute the illegality of authorized settlements.

Illegality arguments

The International Court of Justice has ruled that Israel is in breach of international law by establishing settlements in Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem. The Court maintains that Israel cannot rely on its right of self-defense or necessity to impose a regime that violates international law. The Court also ruled that Israel violates basic human rights by impeding liberty of movement and the inhabitants' right to work, health, education and an adequate standard of living.

International intergovernmental organizations such as the Conference of the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention, major organs of the United Nations, the European Union, and Canada, regard the settlements as a violation of international law. The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination wrote that "The status of the settlements was clearly inconsistent with Article 3 of the Convention, which, as noted in the Committee's General Recommendation XIX, prohibited all forms of racial segregation in all countries. There is a consensus among publicists that the prohibition of racial discrimination, irrespective of territories, is an imperative norm of international law." Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch have also characterized the settlements as a violation of international law. In 1978, the Legal Adviser of the Department of State reached the same conclusion.

Under Israeli law, West Bank settlements must meet specific criteria to be legal. In 2009, there were approximately 100 small communities that did not meet these criteria and are referred to as illegal outposts.

Legality arguments

Among the legal leading scholars who dispute this view is Stephen M. Schwebel. Schwebel, a judge of International Court of Justice and Professor of International Law at Johns Hopkins University makes three distinctions specific to the Israeli situation that show the territories were seized in self-defense and thus Israel has more title to them than the previous holders. Professor Julius Stone also writes that ”Israel's presence in all these [disputed] areas pending negotiation of new borders is entirely lawful, since Israel entered them lawfully in self-defense.”

Julius Stone referred to the absurdity of the claim that establishing settlements violate Article 49(6): "We would have to say that the effect of Article 49(6) is to impose an obligation on the State of Israel to ensure (by force if necessary) that these areas, despite their millennial association with Jewish life, shall be forever judenrein. Irony would thus be pushed to the absurdity of claiming that Article 49(6), designed to prevent repetition of Nazi-type genocidal policies of rendering Nazi metropolitan territories judenrein, has now come to mean that . . . the West Bank . . . must be made judenrein and must be so maintained, if necessary by the use of force by the government of Israel against its own inhabitants. Common sense as well as correct historical and functional context exclude so tyrannical a reading of Article 49(6)."

Israel maintains that a temporary use of land and buildings for various purposes is permissible under a plea of military necessity and that the settlements fulfilled security needs. In 1967, Theodor Meron, legal counsel to the Israeli Foreign Ministry stated in a legal opinion to Adi Yafeh, the Political Secretary of the Prime Minister, "My conclusion is that civilian settlement in the administered territories contravenes the explicit provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention." The legal opinion, forwarded to Prime Minister Levi Eshkol, was not made public at the time, and the Labor cabinet progressively sanctioned settlements anyway; this action paved the way for future settlement growth. In 2007, Meron stated that "I believe that I would have given the same opinion today."

Israel argues that its settlement policy is consistent with international law, including the Fourth Geneva Convention, while recognizing that some settlements have been constructed illegally on private land. The Israeli Supreme Court has ruled that the power of the Civil Administration and the Military Commander in the occupied territories is limited by the entrenched customary rules of public international law as codified in the Hague Regulations and Geneva Convention IV. In 1998 the Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs produced "The International Criminal Court Background Paper". It concludes

International law has long recognised that there are crimes of such severity they should be considered "international crimes." Such crimes have been established in treaties such as the Genocide Convention and the Geneva Conventions. .... The following are Israel's primary issues of concern [ie with the rules of the ICC]: - The inclusion of settlement activity as a "war crime" is a cynical attempt to abuse the Court for political ends. The implication that the transfer of civilian population to occupied territories can be classified as a crime equal in gravity to attacks on civilian population centres or mass murder is preposterous and has no basis in international law.

Criticism by human rights organizations

Settlements (darker pink) and areas of the West Bank (lighter pink) where access by Palestinians is closed or restricted. Source: United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, January 2006

Amnesty International argues that Israel's settlement policy is discriminatory and a violation of Palestinian human rights. B'Tselem claims that Israeli travel restrictions impact on Palestinian freedom of movement and Palestinian human rights have been violated in Hebron due to the presence of the settlers within the city. According to B'Tselem, over fifty percent of West Bank land expropriated from Palestinians has been used to establish settlements and create reserves of land for their future expansion. The seized lands mainly benefit the settlements and Palestinians cannot use them. The organization also claims that roads built by Israel in the West Bank that are closed to Palestinian vehicles are 'discriminatory.'

Human Rights Watch has filed reports on "settler violence," referring to stoning and shooting incidents involving Israeli settlers. Israel's withdrawal from Gaza and Hebron have led to violent settler protests, and there are often disputes between settlers and Palestinians over land, resources and perceived grievances. In an opinion piece in Haaretz newspaper, Meron Benvenisti described the settlement enterprise as a "commercial real estate project that conscripts Zionist rhetoric for profit."

The construction of the Israeli West Bank barrier was also cited as an infringement on Palestinian human and land rights. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimated that 10% of the West Bank would fall on the Israeli side of the barrier.

Economy

Palestinian labor

Due to high unemployment rates in the West Bank, tens of thousands of Palestinians work in Israeli settlements. According to the Manufacturers Association of Israel, some 22,000 Palestinians are employed by settlement businesses in construction, agriculture, manufacturing and service industries. In 2010, Palestinian leaders announced a ban prohibiting Palestinian laborers from working in Israeli settlements. The ban triggered anger and uncertainty among West Bank Palestinians who depend on this employment. Labour leaders warned the PA against taking legal steps against those who continue to work in the settlements. The prospect of losing Palestinian labour has forced farms in the Jordan valley to consider bringing in more workers from East Asia. A columnist for the Jerusalem Post claimed that the ban would not undermine the economic viability of the settlements.

Palestinian officials estimate that settlers sell goods worth some $500 million to the Palestinian market. In 2009, the UK Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs called for labeling products produced by the settlements sold in UK markets.

Palestinians have been highly involved in the construction business since the settlements first started appearing in the West Bank. The Palestinian Authority estimates over 12,000 Palestinians are employed by Jewish and Arab contractors in building and expanding settlements. It is reported that even supporters of Hamas and Islamic Jihad work in the settlement business. A lack of jobs and relatively high salary has been cited as a motivation for Palestinian involvement. Arab workers are said to be paid approximately 3 times as much by Israeli contractors than Palestinian employers. Jewish employers pay an average of NIS 400 ($100 US$) while Palestinian contractors pay NIS 100 to NIS 150 per day.

According to a 2008 annual report by Kav LaOved, many Palestinians who work in Israeli settlements are not granted the same basic protections that apply to Israeli workers under Israeli labor law, such as a minimum wage, payment for working overtime, work safety and social benefits. Instead, they are employed under Jordanian labor law, which does not require minimum wage, payment for overtime and other social rights. In 2007, this system was legally challenged by Kav LaOved and the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that Israeli labor law does apply to Palestinians working in West Bank settlements. The court stated that applying different rules in the same work place based on differing nationalities constituted discrimination. The ruling allowed Palestinian workers to file lawsuits in Israeli courts which led to an average settlement of 100,000 shekels.

According to Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, 63% of Palestinians oppose PA plans to prosecute Palestinians who work in the settlements. However, 72% of Palestinians support a boycott of the products they sell.

Incidents of violence

Although the vast majority of West Bank settlers are law abiding, there was a rise in Israeli settler violence against IDF troops and Palestinian neighbors in 2009. Maj-Gen Shamni said "In the past, only a few dozen individuals took part in such activity but today that number has grown into the hundreds ... engaged in conspiratorial actions against Palestinians and the security forces. It's a very grave phenomenon." A UN report recorded 222 acts of settler violence against Palestinians and IDF troops in the first half of 2008 compared with 291 in 2007. In 2008-2009, the defense establishment began to adopt a harder line against unruly settlers. Extremists responded with a tactic dubbed "price tagging," vandalizing Palestinian property when the government sent in police or soldiers to dismantle outposts.

Violence against Palestinians has been harshly condemned by leading religious figures in the West Bank, among them Rabbi Menachem Fruman of Tekoa, who said:

"Targeting Palestinians and their property is a shocking thing, (...) It's an act of hurting humanity. (...) This builds a wall of fire between Jews and Arabs."

The umbrella organization of municipal councils of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Yesha Council and former Knesset member and settler Hanan Porat has also condemned violence against Palestinians.

In response to settler violence towards Israeli security forces, the Israeli government said it would increase law enforcement and cut off aid to illegal outposts. When buildings were evacuated by the Israeli government, settlers lashed out at Palestinians because they were "easy victims." The United Nations accused Israeli security forces of failing to intervene in settler attacks and arrest settlers suspected of violence.

Israeli civilians living in the Palestinian Territories are not subject to military or local law, but are prosecuted according to Israeli penal law. In 2008, Haaretz wrote that "Israeli society has become accustomed to seeing lawbreaking settlers receive special treatment and no other group could similarly attack Israeli law enforcement agencies without being severely punished."

Gush Emunim Underground was a militant organization associated with Gush Emunim that operated in 1979–1984. The organization carried out attacks against Palestinian officials and Arab students and plotted an attack on the Dome on the Rock. In 1994, Baruch Goldstein, a settler from Hebron and member of Kach party killed 29 Palestinian worshipers and injured 125 at Cave of the Patriarchs during Muslim prayer services. The attack was widely condemned by the Israeli government and Jewish community.

The Palestinian leadership has accused Israel of "encouraging and enabling" settler violence in a bid to provoke Palestinian riots and violence in retaliation.

Alleged agricultural vandalism

While the Economy of the Palestinian territories has shown signs of growth, the International Committee of the Red Cross released a report stating restrictions imposed on Palestinians in the West Bank have had a negative impact on Palestinian olive farming. According to the ICRC, 10,000 olive trees were cut down or burned by settlers between 2007 and 2010. Foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said the report ignored official PA data showing that the economic situation for Palestinians had improved substantially. He referred to a comment made by Mahmoud Abbas to the Washington Post in May 2009, where he said "in the West Bank, we have a good reality, the people are living a normal life".

Haaretz described the 45-day olive harvest as a time of heightened violence, with a handful extremist settlers trying to provoke Palestinians. Court rulings required the army to protect the harvesters. In 2010, however, there were numerous incidents of trees being cut down, poisoned or torched. In the first two weeks of the harvest, some 500 Palestinian trees and 100 Jewish trees had been vandalized.

A group called "Tazpit Unit" says it has documented Palestinians vandalizing trees with the intention of blaming settlers for the destruction. Yedioth Ahronoth published photos taken by the group that show Palestinians and left-wing activists cutting down Palestinian olive trees using an electric saw. The group claimed that the reported "price tag" operations by settlers were actually carried out by Palestinians with the aim of tarnishing the image of the settlers.

Violence and provocation of activists

Pro-Palestinian activists who hold regular protests near the settlements have been accused of stone-throwing, physical assault and provocation. In some cases, they filmed only the response of the settlers, which was presented to the media as evidence of settler violence. In 2008, Avshalom Peled, head of the Israel Police's Hebron district, called "left-wing" activity in the city dangerous and provocative, and accused activists of antagonizing the settlers in the hope of getting a reaction. He called organizations like Breaking the Silence "wolves in sheep's clothing." In one incident, a female activist entered Otniel on Shabbat with a group of friends, stripped to the waist, and began to play a flute while topless.

Palestinian violence against settlers

IDF soldiers and settlers guarding a settlement

Since mid-1990s attacks against settlers became a frequent phenomenon. Settlers are mostly targeted by Palestinian armed groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad, whose representatives argue that the settlers have forfeited their civilian status because they reside in illegal settlements. B'tselem rejected this reasoning, and stated:

"The illegality of the settlements has no effect at all on the status of their civilian residents. The settlers constitute a distinctly civilian population, which is entitled to all the protections granted civilians by international law. The Israeli security forces' use of land in the settlements or the membership of some settlers in the Israeli security forces does not affect the status of the other residents living among them, and certainly does not make them proper targets of attack. B'Tselem strongly opposes the attempts to justify attacks against Israeli civilians by using distorted interpretations of international law. Furthermore, B'Tselem demands that the Palestinian Authority do everything within its power to prevent future attacks and to prosecute the individuals involved in past attacks."

The human rights organization Human Rights Watch also issued a similar statement.

Types of fatal attacks by Palestinians militants against settlers have included firing of rockets and mortars, and drive-by shootings, amongst other methods. Children have sometimes been victims in these attacks. Incidents that received relative notoriety include two 14-year-old boys from the settlement of Tekoa who were found dead in a nearby cave.

Major incidents of violence against Israeli settlers or in settlements include the Murder of Shalhevet Pass, a ten-month-old Israeli infant who was shot by a Palestinian sniper on the streets of Hebron. and Murder of Koby Mandell, a 13-year-old Israeli-American boy, on May 8, 2001, by Palestinian militants near Tekoa.

There have also been incidents such as the Bat Ayin ax attack where a Palestinian attacked children in the settlement of Bat Ayin with an axe and a knife, killing a 13-year-old boy and seriously wounding another, and the Killing of Rabbi Meir Hai who was killed in a drive-by shooting.

Casualty figures

See also: Palestinian political violence

Between 2000-2010, 242 Israeli civilians were killed by Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, while 47 Palestinians were killed by Israeli civilians. Many of the Palestinian victims were killed while while attempting to infiltrate settlements or attack Israelis.

Note: the figures below exclude Palestinians killed by the Israeli military (which number 4,787 people killed between 2000-2008). The majority of Israeli civilian deaths were settlers.

Civilian casualty figures in the Palestinian Territories, 1987-2010
-

Years	Israeli civilian	Palestinian
1987	0	0
1988	6	15
1989	3	17
1990	4	9
1991	7	6
1992	11	2
1993	27	13
1994	11	38
1995	7	2
1996	3	3
1997	4	4
1998	8	6
1999	1	0
2000	20	6
2001	65	7
2002	87	13
2003	25	6
2004	15	2
2005	17	7
2006	7	0
2007	2	0
2008	3	4
2009	2	1
2010	5	1
1987–2010	340	162

Environmental issues

Municipal Environmental Associations of Judea and Samaria, an environmental awareness group, was established by the settlers to address sewage treatment problems and cooperate with the Palestinian Authority on environmental issues. According to a Haaretz study, settlers account for 10% of the population in the West Bank but produce 25% of the sewage output. Beit Duqqu and Qalqilyah have accused settlers of polluting their farmland and villagers claim children have become ill after swimming in a local stream. Legal action was taken against 14 settlements by the Israeli Ministry of the Environment. The Palestinian Authority has also been criticized by environmentalists for not doing more to prevent water pollution. Settlers and Palestinians share the mountain aquifer as a water source, and both generate sewage and industrial effluents that endanger the aquifer. Friends of the Earth Middle East claimed that sewage treatment was inadequate in both sectors. Sewage from Palestinian sources was estimated at 46 million cubic meters a year, and sources from settler sources at 15 million cubic meters a year. A 2004 study found that sewage was not sufficiently treated in many settlements, while sewage from Palestinian villages and cities flowed into unlined cesspits, streams and the open environment with no treatment at all.

In a 2007 study, the Israel Nature and Parks Authority and Israeli Ministry of Environmental Protection, found that Palestinian towns and cities produced 56 million cubic meters of sewage per year, 94 percent discharged without adequate treatment, while Israeli sources produced 17.5 million cubic meters per year, 31.5 percent without adequate treatment.

According to Palestinian environmentalists, the settlers operate industrial and manufacturing plants that can create pollution as many do not conform to Israeli standards. In 2005, an old quarry between Kedumim and Nablus was slated for conversion into an industrial waste dump. Pollution experts warned that the dump would threaten Palestinian water sources.

Impact on peace process

Main article: Peace process in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict

Gush Katif was a block of 16 Israeli settlements in the southern Gaza Strip. Its 8,000 residents were forced to leave and had their homes demolished in August 2005 as part of Israel's unilateral disengagement plan.

The settlements have on several occasions been a source of tension between Israel and the U.S.. President Jimmy Carter insisted that the settlements were illegal and unwise tactically, and decades after leaving office he wrote Palestine Peace Not Apartheid. President Ronald Reagan stated that they were legal, though he considered them an obstacle to negotiations. In 1991 there was a clash between the Bush administration and Israel, where the U.S. delayed a subsidized loan to pressure Israel not to proceed with the establishment of settlements for instance in the Jerusalem-Bethlehem corridor. In 2005 the United States ambassador to Israel, Dan Kurtzer, expressed U.S. support "for the retention by Israel of major Israeli population centres [in the West Bank] as an outcome of negotiations", reflecting President Bush's statement a year earlier that a permanent peace treaty would have to reflect "demographic realities" in the West Bank. In June 2009, President Barack Obama said "The United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements."

Palestinians argue that Israel has undermined the Oslo accords, and the peace process more generally, by continuing to expand the settlements after the signing of the Accords. Israel previously also had settlements in the Sinai Peninsula, but these were forcibly evacuated and destroyed as a result of the peace agreement with Egypt. Many have noted the role of private U.S. corporations and charities in funding these settlements, and the tax breaks they enjoy from the government on these 'donations.'For more information, see the article "Time to Crack down on Settlement Funding," an article published by [The Jerusalem Fund] in Washington, DC [15]

Most Israeli and U.S. proposals for final agreement have also involved Israel being allowed to retain long established communities in the territories near Israel and in East Jerusalem (the majority of the settler population is near the "Green Line"), with Israel annexing the land where the communities are located. This would result in a transfer of roughly 5% of the West Bank to Israel, with the Palestinians being compensated by the transfer of a similar share of Israeli territory (i.e. territory behind the "Green Line") to the Palestinian state. Palestinians complain that this would legitimize what they see as an illegitimate land grab, and that the land offered in exchange is situated in the southern desert, whereas the areas that Israel seeks to retain are among the West Bank's most fertile areas, including major aquifers. Israel, however, sees the current "Green Line" as unacceptable from a security standpoint - Israel would have at some points no more than 17 kilometers from the border to the sea. For more details, see Proposals for a Palestinian state.

Former President George Bush has stated that he does not expect Israel to return entirely to pre-1967 borders, due to "new realities on the ground." One of the main compromise plans put forth by the Clinton Administration would have allowed Israel to keep some settlements in the West Bank, especially those in large blocs near the pre-1967 borders of Israel. in return, Palestinians would have received some concessions of land in other parts of the country.

Both U.S. President Bill Clinton and U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair, who played notable roles in attempts at mediation, noted the need for some territorial and diplomatic compromise on this issue, based on the validity of some of the claims of both sides.

Fayed Mustafa, Palestinian ambassador to Russia, has called on the return of Palestinian territories to Egypt and Jordan if the current talks fail.

Israeli defense Minister Ehud Barak has approved a plan that would require security commitments in exchange for a withdraw from the West Bank. Barak has also expressed readiness to cede parts of East Jerusalem to the Palestinians and put the holy sites in the city under a "special regime".

On June 14, 2009, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as an answer to U.S. President Barack Obama's speech in Cairo, delivered a speech setting out his principles for a Palestinian-Israeli peace, among others, he alleged "... we have no intention of building new settlements or of expropriating additional land for existing settlements." Despite promises, in March 2010 the Netanyahu's government on the wake of U.S. Vice President Joe Biden visit to Israel announced plans for building 1,600 housing units in Arab East Jerusalem.

On 6 September 2010, Jordanian King Abdullah II and Syrian President Bashar Assad said that Israel would need to withdraw from all of the lands occupied in 1967 in order to achieve peace with the Palestinians.

Bradley Burston has said that a negotiated or unilateral withdraw from most of the settlements in the West Bank is gaining traction in Israel.

In November 2010, the United States offered to "fight against efforts to delegitimize Israel" and provide extra arms to Israel in exchange for a continuation of the settlement freeze and a final peace agreement, but failed to come to an agreement with the Israelis on the exact terms.

In December 2010, the United States criticized efforts by the Palestinian Authority to impose borders for the two states through the United Nations rather than through direct negotiations between the two sides.

Proposals for land swap

The Clinton Parameters included a plan on which the Palestinian State was to include 94-96% of the West Bank, and around 80% of the settlers were to remain under Israeli sovereignty, and in exchange for that, Israel will concede some territory (so called 'Territory Exchange' or 'Land Swap') within the Green Line (1967 borders). The swap would consist of 1-3% of Israeli territory, such that the final borders of the West Bank part of the Palestinian state would include 97% of the land of the original borders.

In 2010, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said that the Palestinians and Israel have agreed on the principle of a land swap. The issue of the ratio of land Israel would give to the Palestinians in exchange for keeping settlement blocs is an issue of dispute, with the Palestinians demanding that the ratio be 1:1, and Israel offering less.

Proposal of dual citizenship

A number of proposals for the granting of Palestinian citizenship or residential permits to Jewish settlers in return for the removal of Israeli military installations from the West Bank have been fielded by such individuals as Arafat, Ibrahim Sarsur and Ahmed Qureia.

Israeli Minister Moshe Ya'alon said in April 2010 that "just as Arabs live in Israel, so, too, should Jews be able to live in Palestine." ... "If we are talking about coexistence and peace, why the [Palestinian] insistence that the territory they receive be ethnically cleansed of Jews?".

Impact on Palestinian demographics

Sushil P. Seth writes that Israelis seem to feel that increasing settlements will force many Palestinians to flee to other countries and that the remainder will be forced to live under Israeli terms.

Human Rights Watch has determined that Israeli settlement policies has had the effect of "forcing residents to leave their communities".

Educational institutions

Ariel University Center of Samaria, formerly the College of Judea and Samaria, is the major Israeli institution of higher education in the West Bank. It is Israel's largest public college. The college was accredited in 1994 and awards bachelor degrees in arts, sciences, technology, architecture and physical therapy. Teacher training colleges include Herzog College in Alon Shevut and Orot Israel College in Elkana. Ohalo College is located in Katzrin, in the Golan Heights. Curricula at these institutions are overseen by the Council for Higher Education in Judea and Samaria (CHE-JS).

Dismantlement of settlements

Neve Dekalim was Gush Katif's urban center and home to the greatest population, before the dismantlement of the settlements as part of Israel's unilateral disengagement plan.

Background

Given the dispute over the territories where the settlements were built, the issue of dismantling them has been considered. Arab parties to the conflict have demanded the dismantlement of the settlements as a condition for peace with Israel. As part of the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty, Israel was required to evacuate its settlers from the 18 Sinai settlements. The evacuation, which took place in 1982, was done forcefully in some instances, such as the evacuation of Yamit. The settlements were demolished, as it was feared that settlers might try to return to their homes after the evacuation.

During the peace process with the Palestinians, the issue of dismantling the West Bank]and Gaza Strip settlements has been raised.

As part of Israel's unilateral disengagement plan, Israel evacuated the Gaza Strip and part of the West Bank, including all 21 settlements in Gaza and four in the West Bank, while retaining control over Gaza's borders, coastline, and airspace. Most of these settlements have existed since the early 1980s, some are over 30 years old, and with a total population of more than 10,000, many of whom have yet to find permanent housing. There was significant opposition to the plan among parts of the Israeli public, and especially those living in the territories. George W. Bush said that a permanent peace deal would have to reflect "demographic realities" in the West Bank regarding Israel's settlements.

Within the former settlements, almost all buildings were demolished by Israel, with the exception of certain government and religious structures, which were completely emptied. Under an international arrangement, productive greenhouses were left to assist the Palestinian economy but these were destroyed within hours by Palestinian looters. Following the withdrawal, many of the former synagogues were torched and destroyed by Palestinians. The Palestinian leadership "maintained" that the synagogues were "symbols of Israeli occupation." Kofi Annan, the Secretary-General of the United Nations at the time, said the Palestinian Authority had a "moral responsibility to protect the synagogues as places with religious significance."

Some Israelis believe the settlements need not necessarily be dismantled and evacuated, even if Israel withdraws from the territory where they stand, as they can remain under Palestinian rule. These ideas have been expressed both by people from the left, who see this as a possible situation in a two-state solution, and by extreme right-wingers and settlers that, while objecting to any withdrawal, claim stronger links to the land than to the state of Israel.

A July 2009 survey of Israeli public opinion found that people are about evenly divided on the issue, with 46 percent of those polled in support of further construction and 44 percent opposed. Since 1982, the Sinai Peninsula has not been regarded as occupied territory.

In 2009, Benjamin Netanyahu said: "I have no intention of building new settlements in the West Bank... But like all the governments there have been until now, I will have to meet the needs of natural growth in the population. I will not be able to choke the settlements." On 15 October 2009, he said the settlement row with the United States had been resolved.

See also

• Expansionism
• State of Judea
• Palestinian Land Law
• Shebaa farms
• Israeli settlement timeline

Further reading

• Israeli Settlements interactive map and Israeli land use from The Guardian
• Israeli settlements: Where, when, and why they're built, Ilene R. Prusher, Christian Science Monitor, 15 September 2009
• Text of the Fourth 1949 Geneva Convention from icrc.org
• The legal status of Israeli settlements under IHL (International Humanitarian Law), Reuters ReliefWeb, 31 January 2004
• The Humanitarian Impact on Palestinians of Israeli Settlements and Other Infrastructure in the West Bank from UN OCHA, Palestinian territories
• Israeli Communities in Yesha & Jordan Valley
• The Illegal Settlements - slideshow by The First Post

Viewpoints and commentary

• Monitoring Israeli Colonization Activities in the Palestinian Territory, The Applied Research Institute Jerusalem
• Land Expropriation and Settlements from B'tselem
• Israel and The Palestinian Territories, The Carter Center
• Israeli Confiscation and Settlement on Palestinian Land from If Americans Knew
• Myths about the settlements and A compilation of facts on the settlements, Jewish Virtual Library
• Settlements and Settlements and U.S. Policy, Americans for Peace Now
• Bregman, Ahron Elusive Peace: How the Holy Land Defeated America
• 'The Wye River Memorandum and Israeli Settlements”, Geoffrey Aronson, The Jerusalem Fund, 4 August 1999
• For Israel, Land or Peace Jimmy Carter, The Carter Center, 26 November 2000
• Backgrounder: Jewish settlements and the Media from the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America, 5 October 2001
• From "occupied territories" to "disputed territories", Dore Gold, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, 16 January 2002
• Ottoman Land Registration Law as a Contributing Factor in the Israeli-Arab Conflict by Rabbi Jon-Jay Tilsen, 2003
• Diplomatic and Legal Aspects of the Settlement Issue from the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, 19 January 2003
• Jewish Settlements in "the Territories" Aren't the Problem, Chaim Herzog, FrontPageMag.com, 9 April 2003
• Occupation and Settlement: The Myth and Reality, David Meir-Levi, Think-Israel.org, 24 June 2005
• "At Israeli Outpost, Showdown Looms for Settlers, Government Gershom Gorenberg, Forward.com, 27 January 2006
• Settlements 'violate Israeli law', BBC News, 21 November 2006
• Backgrounder: The debate about settlements from the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America, 13 June 2007